Kaizer Chiefs youth team coach Jimmy Jambo is pleased with the way his players have responded since returning to action in the Gauteng Development League.

Jambo is in charge of the Chiefs under 13 and under 15 teams and having now played two games since returning to GDL action, the former Amakhosi defender believes Chiefs’ youth teams are moving in the right direction.

On Saturday the Chiefs u-13’s were involved in an entertaining 3-3 draw away to Panorama, while the u-15’s won 4-0 also against Honeydew-based Panorama.

“It’s been good coming back to action, the thing we wanted most was to start playing. From the first game I knew it would not be easy for us, having these boys coming back and getting back to the right fitness levels,” Jambo said after the games against Panorama.

The coach is encouraged by his teams each scoring at least two goals in each of their two games back and feels that it is down to the players’ eagerness to get back on the field.

“In the back of my mind, I knew these boys were itching to play. As we can see from the first game against Highlands Park we have been winning, but our fitness levels have not been good. The fitness levels are coming back, which is positive for us,” says Jambo.

The Chiefs u-13’s won 2-1 against Highlands Park on their return to action before drawing with Panorama this weekend, and the u-15’s beat Highlands Park 3-0 and Panorama 4-0, but for Jambo, the results are not all that matters.

He spoke about his objectives and what he aims to achieve with his players.

“Our aim is to holistically develop players, results will come when you have a good environment with them. We want to develop good technical players and the result will come. The set of players that I have are very hungry. They have a good understanding of the game and the core players from last season are still around, which helps with continuity,” says Jambo.

According to Jambo the most important aspect of his players’ development is to be competitive and he believes the resumption of games and the competitive nature of the GDL will help further their progress.

“Training without playing does not help. The boys need to be in a competitive environment and the GDL is giving us the platform to be competitive. The boys that I started with in the GDL have already progressed to the Reserves and some to the U-19 team. To have those boys go from u-13 all the way up is a good progression,” Jambo concluded.